NEW YORK - On Friday, November 19, the Columbia women's
squash team will compete in its first match as a varsity team. This year's squad features a mix of
veterans from the club program, in addition to a handful of new faces, all
eager to start this program off on a high note.

LOOKING TO BUILD
Under first-year head coach Kelsey Engman, the Lions will look to build off
last season's success as a club.
The team finished 5-10 overall, and with a final team ranking of 25th in
the country after winning the Epps Cup (D Division) at the Women's National
Team Championships. This year the team hopes to compete and finish in the high
"C" or low "B" division at the Women's National Team Championship.

THIS SEASON'S LINEUP
This year's ladder of 10 players features of perfect split of new and old. Five members return from last year's
lineup, while five newcomers fill in remaining five spots.

Chu and Quan have battled back and forth in the preseason
for the number one spot. Chu
returns strong after having played #1 for the team last year. Quan, who won the team tournament
earlier in the fall, joins the squad as a first-year after a successful high
school career at Exeter.

The two other first-years in the top-five include Stone who
comes to Columbia from Episcopal, and Dickey from William Penn Charter, while
Tickell played #2 for the Lions last year as a first-year.

Strauss and Schroder arrive to Morningside Heights from
William Penn Charter and Lawrenceville, respectively, while Cheng played #3 for
Columbia last year, Harris played #8, and Hansen played #9.

CAPTAINS
This year's team will be led by Chu, a junior, and Cheng, a senior, both of
whom have played for the team since their freshmen year. Chu played #1 last
season for the Lions, while Cheng played #3. Both student-athletes are excited and honored to be the
leaders in the program's inaugural varsity season.

"Ever since my freshman year, the idea of it going varsity
has been there," said Cheng. "I
played on the varsity team at my high school, so I'm excited to get back to
that similar mentality."

Added Chu, "It's exciting to be able to say we were there at
the beginning and the start of all this, because we are essentially making
history, and its nice to be there at the start."

THE SCHEDULE
The Lions will play their only Ivy League match in the season-opener against
fourth-ranked Princeton on November 19.
The following day, Columbia will play George Washington and Georgetown
in Washington, D.C. in its last competition until January 2011.

The Lions will open the new year at the Pioneer Valley
Invitational, January 14-16. Next
up, the team will face Northeastern and Vassar on January 29, before hosting
back-to-back home matches against Middlebury and Haverford on January 30 and
February 6, respectively. The team
will have one last tune up at Vassar on February 12 before Women's Nationals on
February 18-20 in Princeton, N.J., and Individual National Championships on
March 4-6 in Hanover, N.H.